Lyra froze for a moment when she heard that.
"Black Flash from Hualis!?"
She tried to make sense of it, but nothing clicked.
Her expression tightened as she snapped at Aaron,
"What 'Black Flash'!?"
"I've never even heard of that—are you messing with me!?"
She glared at him.
"Hmph… all that hair, no brains."
Aaron barely reacted, his tone flat.
"You—"
"You're insulting me!?"
Lyra shot back, anger flashing across her face.
"I didn't. You're the one overthinking it."
Aaron stayed completely unfazed, like nothing could get to him—just like his Greninja.
"Lyra, please send out your next Pokémon. If you fail to do so within one minute, it will count as a forfeit."
Sensing things about to escalate, Simon quickly stepped in from the referee's stand, cutting Lyra off.
Lyra shot Aaron a sharp glare, recalled Volcarona, and pulled out another Poké Ball.
This one was different.
Gray, with two red bands running across it.
Aaron recognized it immediately—a Luxury Ball.
Extremely expensive. One cost 500,000.
Ridiculously pricey…
You could practically buy a high base-stat Pokémon for that kind of money.
But its advantage was clear:
Pokémon kept in a Luxury Ball bonded more easily with their Trainer.
And for the wealthy, that alone made it worth it.
Lyra's expression sharpened as she threw the Luxury Ball.
"Come out… my final Pokémon!"
Flash—!
A flash of white light burst forth.
A fox Pokémon appeared, standing upright, its body cloaked in red fur. It held a wooden staff, flames flickering at its tip.
Delphox.
Aaron's eyes focused as the system scan activated.
[Name: Delphox]
[Gender: Female]
[Nature: Modest]
[Type: Fire/Psychic]
[Ability: Blaze]
[Base Stats Total: 534]
[Level: Elite (Late Stage)]
[Pokémon Potential: Champion]
[Moves: Mystical Fire (Mastery), Shadow Ball (Mastery), Ember (Mastery), Flame Charge (Proficient), Psybeam (Proficient), Fire Spin (Proficient), Amnesia (Proficient), Light Screen (Proficient), Psyshock (Proficient), Flamethrower (Proficient), Will-O-Wisp (Proficient), Psychic (Proficient), Psychic Terrain (Proficient), Protect (Proficient), Calm Mind (Proficient)...]
[Description: Delphox, the Fox Pokémon and evolution of Braixen. A fire-wielding psychic Pokémon with formidable strength.]
...
Another Fire-type.
Aaron was sure now—Lyra specialized in them.
And this one had Psychic typing too, which made things trickier.
But Greninja had the Dark type.
Water beat Fire.
Dark beat Psychic.
From a matchup standpoint, Lyra was at a clear disadvantage.
The corner of Aaron's mouth twitched.
Sending out Greninja almost felt like bullying.
The only edge she had was level—her Delphox was Late Elite, two stages above his Greninja.
"This is my strongest Pokémon… Delphox."
"You're strong, Aaron—but I won't lose!"
Lyra spoke through clenched teeth, determination in her eyes.
"Alright… you're pretty strong too."
Aaron gave a faint smile.
But to Lyra, it felt like mockery.
Her cheeks flushed.
Both her Pokémon had already been swept by his Greninja—and he called that "pretty strong"?
"Hmph…"
"You bastard… don't get ahead of yourself!"
"Delphox—Psychic Terrain!"
Lyra shouted, her face flushed with anger.
"Phox—!"
Delphox swung its staff, and a strange pink energy spread across the battlefield.
Psychic Terrain.
For a time, priority moves lost their advantage, and Psychic-type moves grew stronger.
In other words—Greninja's Quick Attack and Water Shuriken were no longer instant strikes.
They now moved at normal speed.
Lyra had clearly been thrown off by Greninja's speed and chose to shut it down immediately.
"Hmph… your black frog's instant moves are useless now."
"Let's see how long you keep acting so arrogant."
She smirked, satisfied.
The corner of Aaron's mouth twitched.
So that was her plan.
But what she didn't know was—his Greninja had something even faster than priority moves.
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
He almost felt bad for her.
Almost.
"Greninja—Water Shuriken Barrage!"
"Flying Thunder God—Third Stage!"
"Water Pulse!"
Even as he thought that, Aaron calmly unleashed the combo.
"Nin—!"
Blue energy surged from Greninja's body as countless shuriken formed in front of it.
Each one bore a black frog mark.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
They rained down toward Delphox.
"Delphox—Light Screen!"
Lyra reacted instantly, her expression tightening.
"Phox—!"
Delphox swung its staff, and a pink barrier rose up in front of it.